How to spot counterfeits

[HabanoSy]

Havana factory code, not sure which one though as they change them all the bloody time...!?!

Anybody...?

Cheers, HabanoSy

[TJCoro]

Keepers!

Muchacho, everything in your description sounds about right. Not sure about the "blurry" bands though and the weight is a bit suspect, but I would bet they are genuine, based on the info you provided. Pics are always nice, however.


TJ

[gt3911]

Hi,

I didnt feel my curiosity on this matter required a new thread, and after reading some older posts I felt it would be most appropriate to attach myself onto here. I hope you dont mind me bumping up an old topic.

A friend of mine was gifted a Cohiba - He gave it to me and asked me to store it. Sure, ok. I'm quite inclinded to say its a fake, it was bought on a trip to Poland. I'm really not worried about how geninuie his stick is, but my curiosity is more about real cigars. When we look at threads debating if said item is fake or not, we seem to apply very strict rules. How good should we expect the quality control to be on something genuine? I ask this, because - I was comparing his to some of mine which have been bought from a very reputable UK shop.

[Forgive the poor quality, camera phone only, If you want I can obtain a much higher quality photo if you'd like to see more]

Pic 1
Allow me to introduce you to my friends, and forgive me for the messy overflowing collection, I'm hoping for a good summer! in this picture his is sandwiched between my Siglo V and a Maduro 5 Secretos. His has quite a lot of stretch marks on the wrapper, the worst I've seen.

Pic 2
In this picture we have his on top and mine on the bottom - you can see his stretch marks a little in this picture, they mostly get worse towards the foot (right hand side) and you can see a bit of damage although mine is certainly not perfect - for these photos I've selected my worst Siglo V

Pic 3
Now - here is my first real point about the quality of my - hopefully genuine article which is on the bottom. The H in "Habana" has a break in it, where the H curls on the top right it doesn't actually join the H, there is a yellow gap. His "habana, cuba" text to me, is to bold, although his H is complete. His square's to me on the bottom row also look to low touching the gold band. Also, my cap is looking a bit ugly.

Pic 4
Mine again, on the bottom! Now this, is nasty, look at that terrible join, the band doesn't line up at all. At least my cap is tidier at this rotation. I have no comment to make on his apart from it looks like the top right curl on his H is also "broken" it is not.

Pic 5
This is a 2nd Siglo V bought at the same time, this is much more floor-less, and the H is complete, the band lines up.

Pic 6
My two are on the bottom again. I took this as I was fighting with a bad camera. Here, we can see the Maduro clearly has a complete "H" and you can just see the break in mine, with his looking a bit to bold.

Pic 7
Finally I leave you with mine on the top left, his on the top right, looking rather mushy!

So, my issue is, I'd normally be quite happy in the fact that his is fake. But I feel that some of you might like to suggest my Siglo is fake, feel free to, It really shouldn't be, I dont want to mention the source until the jury is out. Personally I'm going to say my Siglo is genuine(based on the source only), but is it fair to be so strict in some of the "is it a fake" posts if a genuine article can be questionable itself?

[TJCoro]

Nice and Tidy!

Bump away,senor lil' GTO,




It's a good idea to keep this valuable information in one location.

[monkey66]

If your source is good, the stick is good IMHO.

NB - the strongest visual indication that his may be a counterfeit is the uneven spacing of the little white squares relative to the gold band.

[cj121]

Nice post and concluding point there GT. Most of the critique that gets donated to fake cigars posing as the real deal (usually for sale too), eminates from the obvious: packaging and presentation. I wonder how this was in your friend's case?

GT, are they a couple of La Aurora Preferidos nestling in your humi? If so, I'd like to hear your thoughts on them as I nearly grabbed some a while back. Sorry to jack this one folks.

[gt3911]

Hey,

I must agree - it seems a lot easier to stop fakes in their tracks by the boxes. I think where it can become quite challenging is if your gifted, bombed, or purchasing a single. If the quality control of a genuine article fails to meet strict criteria that we'd like to apply things get a little more tricky. My band looks like a drunk person put it on. If I was gifted this item I might find it extremely difficult to announce it as being legit. Would you?

I'm going to find out more when I next see my friend, it came from his step dad who smokes king edwards frequently as far I know, I don't think he bought a box of these Cohiba's just a few sticks, but I will be enquiring.

CJ - they sure are. My top tray is 3 layers deep, and the bottom is jam packed, but I wake up to yet another rainy day! They're La Aurora Preferidos Connecticut #2 which I am yet to sample. If you really want one, let me know - people always want the good stuff One day someone will want to take one of my Flor De Oliva Super Giants (10 x 66!!!) Talk about taking up real estate!

[cj121]

I guess it gets down to the micro as opposed to the macro which can lead to possible over examination, which like you note GT can get difficult. Puddings and proof? Maybe your torcedor had been imbibing a little on the day he got called in to apply bands at short notice. Not wanting to miss a shift, he went in as wobbly as your band. Lets be honest, we're looking at a natural product which isn't going through the same QC process as a Japanese computer component ay?


Re the Preferidos, once you get up your post count to be able to PM, drop me one and maybe we could do a trade as opposed to your kind offer GT?